16 Thapar varsity students among 1,515 test positive

Coronavirus claimed 22 more lives in Punjab on Saturday as 1,515 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state’s infection tally to 1,96,263, according to a health bulletin

Coronavirus claimed 22 more lives in Punjab on Saturday as 1,515 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state’s infection tally to 1,96,263, according to a health bulletin. Among the fresh cases, 16 students of Thapar University, Patiala, tested positive. Patiala civil surgeon Dr Satinder Singh said two hostels at the university have been declared micro-containment zones. “We have initiated contact tracing of positive cases so as to contain further spread of the infection,” he said.

A health worker inoculating a Punjab Police cop with a Covid-19 vaccine at Sarkari Bhai Dharam Singh Memorial Hospital at Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar on Saturday. (Sameet Sehgal/HT)

The virus has killed 6,052 people since its outbreak in the state. The number of active cases also increased from 10,452 on Friday to 10,916 on Saturday.

A total of 1,024 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of cured people to 1,79,295, the bulletin said. Currently, 24 patients are on ventilator while 212 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said, adding that a total of 53,47,572 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state.

Night curfew imposed in Fazilka

The Fazilka district administration on Saturday imposed night curfew and stringent restrictions in order to curb the Covid-19 virus spread. Deputy commissioner Arvind Pal Singh Sandhu said night curfew will be from 11pm to 5am till further orders in the wake Covid surge.